Attitudes toward JL among the Lecturers who Teach the Japanese Language in Korea - Focusing on Group Work -

Abstract

In this article, I focused on Japanese language classes in general education of Korean universities and conducted an attitude survey of the four groups of lecturers, i.e., 1) Korean lecturers; 2) Japanese lecturers; 3) lecturers who have experiences of group work; and 4) lecturers who have no experience of group work. Results of the survey revealed that both of the Korean and Japanese lecturers hope that the learners will attend the class on their own initiative and the lecturers have positive attitudes toward group work. However, at the same time, they also feel the difficulties about how they should lead the performance of the group work to results. Meanwhile, I could observe a clear difference in attitudes between lecturers who have experiences of group work and those who have no experience of group work. The lecturers who have experiences of group work do not regard the lessons based mainly on text books as favorable, but rather recognize the value of a synergy effect of group work. However, the lecturers who have no experience of group work not only have a tendencies to set a high value on grammar learning but also recognize the existence of learners who are not suited for group work, and are negative to lead the performance of the group work to the results. As a result, I could confirm considerable correlations between the views of lecturers on learning or learners and implementation of group work.